Fort Worth council member says cop who shot child sex offender did ‘Lord’s work’

Fort Worth City Council member Charles Lauersdorf was criticized over the weekend following his Facebook post saying the officer who fatally shot a convicted child sex offender was doing the Lord’s work.

Lauersdorf made the post shortly after midnight on July 26 after he attended a press conference with Police Chief Eddie Garcia at the scene of the shooting in south Fort Worth.

Police were looking for 56-year-old Ricky Shane Lindsey on a felony warrant for cutting off his ankle monitor, Garcia told reporters late Saturday night.

Lindsey was convicted in McLennan County in 2004 on three counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and one count of indecency with a child, according to the Fort Worth police department’s sex offender registry.

He was released from prison in October 2024, but indicted in January 2026 for failing to register with the Fort Worth Police Department, according to court records.

Lindsey was spotted driving near Interstate 35W and Risinger Road about 8 p.m.

After a short vehicle pursuit, Lindsey stopped at a motel parking lot on the 100 block of Palette Drive, just south of the Everman Parkway exit, where police say he produced a weapon, Garcia said.

Police fired, Lindsey was struck, and died after receiving medical attention, Garcia said.

In his post, Lauersdorf characterized the shooting as the Lord’s work.

“Our Directed Response Unit took a sex offender off the street – Permanently – saving taxpayers money and keeping us safe. I couldn’t be more proud!” Lauersdorf said in his post.

One person called Lauersdorf’s post disgusting, arguing police don’t sign up to be “judge, jury and executioner.”

Lauersdorf responded by editing the post and saying he didn’t want to offend anyone, but that his sentiments remained the same.

“I personally have no love lost or sympathy for the loss of a child sex offender. None whatsoever. Full stop,” Lauersdorf said in a phone call with the Star-Telegram.

He emphasized his post was not glorifying Lindsey’s death, but more about celebrating the fact that officers survived the encounter unharmed.

“At the end of the day, one person was going to go home, and I’m happy it was one of our officers and not a child sex offender,” Lauersdorf said.

He reiterated that it’s not a police officer’s job to be the judge, jury and executioner.

“But if a sex offender is running from police, and then he reaches for a gun, I 100 times out of 100 times I want my police officer to come home safe,” Lauersdorf said.